--- title: Meditation: Mindful People Weigh Less, Have Less Belly Fat description: A new study shows people with mindful dispositions—which can come through meditation—are less likely to be obese and have less belly fat canonical: https://time.com/4079494/mindfulness-weight-loss/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-20T16:10:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T00:14:03.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Mindful People Have Less Belly Fat og:description: A new study shows people with mindful dispositions—which can come through meditation—are less likely to be obese and have less belly fat og:url: https://time.com/4079494/mindfulness-weight-loss/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6497a050c23a6382/6987788e0b72e3cd066dcfd4/health-weight-scale-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Weight Loss Health Exercise Scale og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mindful People Have Less Belly Fat twitter:description: A new study shows people with mindful dispositions—which can come through meditation—are less likely to be obese and have less belly fat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6497a050c23a6382/6987788e0b72e3cd066dcfd4/health-weight-scale-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 07:08 video:published: 2014-05-23 section: health topics: Ikaria, Greek island lifestyle, longevity, stress, urban versus rural life, Athens, family, tradition, daily pace of life, alcohol consumption, sleep, documentary portrayal genre: documentary, interview tones: reflective, warm, candid, contemplative emotions: pride (medium), nostalgia (medium), contentment (medium), concern (low) sentiment: positive audience: health-conscious readers, travelers, general interest viewers, people curious about longevity content_suitability: drugs and alcohol [05:05-05:19] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Mindful People Have Less Belly Fat > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3e9379aa-8862-49a1-beba-e243d46292db&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life [Watch (HLS stream): The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/orlnwhNb.m3u8) (7:08)  _Published 2014-05-23. Here's how the people of Ikaria, Greece reach old age_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video explores Ikaria, a Greek island, and the way its people approach life, contrasting their slower pace and lower stress with life in Athens. Residents describe cultural habits such as avoiding stress, seeking small pleasures and living day to day. A speaker recounts working for his uncle and quitting after three days, and another questions how documentaries portray the island by focusing only on old people. Closing segments describe the value placed on family, continuity and enjoying the present. ## Key points - Ikaria's people are described as having a different lifestyle and way of looking at life, moving at their own pace. (00:18) - Athens is described as a crowded big city where crowding is a major stress and where obesity and anxiety are common. (01:52) - The island's residents are described as living in an epicurean culture that avoids stress or copes well with it. (03:02) - When stress cannot be avoided, Ikarians are said to seek small pleasures and live the day as it comes. (03:16) - A speaker says he took work with his uncle, worked three days, then quit because the early starts and long hours were too much. (03:59) - A speaker says documentaries about Ikaria show only old people and nature, not what young people are doing in their lives. (04:50) - A speaker doubts he would live as many years as Ikarians, citing heavy alcohol drinking and poor sleep. (05:05) - A speaker says older people draw a strong sense of continuity and fulfillment from family and enjoying the present moment. (06:44) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 01:38] Ikaria's distinct way of life. Speakers describe the island's unique identity, slower pace and approach to getting things done. - [01:38 to 03:02] Life in Athens versus Ikaria. A speaker contrasts the stress and health effects of city life in Athens with the environment on Ikaria. - [03:02 to 04:47] Cultural habits and stress. Speakers credit the people of Ikaria and their epicurean culture for avoiding stress and seeking small pleasures. - [04:47 to 06:07] Documentaries and lifestyle concerns. A speaker says documentaries focus on old people, and another doubts he would live as long given his drinking and sleep. - [06:07 to 07:08] Tradition, family and the present. Speakers discuss preserving Ikarian tradition and the older generation's sense of family continuity and contentment. ## Key quotes - [00:18] Ikarian speaker: "The people are not what you would find in other places, they have a different lifestyle, a different way of looking at life." - [03:02] Ikarian speaker: "It's the people of Ikaria that make the difference, the people are really for Ikaria." - [03:02] Ikarian speaker: "They live the day as it comes." - [04:50] Ikarian speaker: "In the documentaries they show only old people, they don't show nothing else, old people and the nature." - [05:05] Ikarian speaker: "I don't think that I would live so many years as them because, with the live that we are doing now it's, it's bad because we drink alcohol so much." - [06:44] Ikarian speaker: "They're not looking for new things. They're enjoying the things that they have in the moments they have." ## Questions this video answers - What makes the people of Ikaria different from people elsewhere? [00:18] - How does life in Athens compare to life on Ikaria, according to the speakers? [01:52] - What cultural habits help Ikarians manage stress? [03:02] - Why did one speaker quit working for his uncle? [03:59] - Do the speakers think they would live as long as older Ikarians? [05:05] - What do older Ikarians value in life, according to the speakers? [06:44] ## Content suitability - drugs and alcohol [05:05-05:19]: A speaker mentions drinking alcohol heavily as a reason he doubts he would live as long. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:14 AM UTCPublished: Oct 20, 2015 4:10 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Updated: Dec 14, 2023 12:14 AM UTCPublished: Oct 20, 2015 4:10 PM UTC Research about the effects of mindfulness is becoming ever more robust. Studies suggest that having an awareness of your own physical and mental processes could lead to benefits ranging from [lower stress](http://time.com/2933893/25-minutes-of-this-will-get-rid-of-your-stress/) to a [protected heart](http://time.com/3534531/mindfulness-protects-heart-health/). Now a [new study](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12529-015-9513-z) suggests that mindfulness may have an impact on the physical body, showing that people with mindful dispositions have less belly fat and are less likely to be obese. The research, published in the _International Journal of Behavioral Medicine_, looked at 394 people close to age 50\. The men and women are part of the long-term New England Family Study, and researchers have been following them since they were in their mothers’ wombs. In the study, the researchers assessed the dispositional mindfulness of the men and women using a standard questionnaire called the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS). They also looked at other markers like body fat and weight. **MORE**: [You Asked: What’s The Best Stress Relief Method?](http://time.com/4063368/stress-relief-meditation/) The study authors found that people with low levels of mindfulness had a 34% higher prevalence of obesity compared to people with high levels of mindfulness. They also found that people with low levels of mindfulness had about a pound of extra belly fat compared to those with high levels of mindfulness. “The vast majority of these people are not meditating—it’s just everyday mindfulness and everyday awareness of thoughts, emotions and physical sensations,” says study author Eric Loucks, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Brown University. “People who are more aware seem to either be eating less or being more physically active.” **MORE**: [Mindfulness Exercises Improve Kids’ Math Scores](http://time.com/3682311/mindfulness-math/) Though the study couldn’t say exactly why people who have more mindful dispositions are less likely to be obese, Loucks suggests that people who are naturally more mindful, for whatever reason, may be more aware of body and mood cues, like a sugar high or how it feels to be active. “If they are aware of their thoughts and emotions, it may be just enough to make them a bit more likely to not be obese,” says Loucks. “The effects are not huge but significant. A 34% higher risk definitely gives me pause.” Loucks says the results of the study call for further research on interventions that help harness the positive effects of mindfulness. Loucks and his colleagues recently [received a grant](https://news.brown.edu/articles/2015/09/mindful) from the National Institutes of Health to conduct randomized controlled trials that look at the impact of mindfulness interventions on behaviors such as adherence to a medical regimen, like taking medication for blood pressure. Loucks, who’s meditated for up to an hour each morning for 20 years, says he’s seeing a major shift in public awareness of the benefits of mindfulness. For a mindfulness course he teaches at Brown, “I had over 80 emails just requesting to be on a wait list,” he says. “The last three to four years have been amazing.” You can unlock the benefits of meditation even without being in a constant state of mindfulness, Loucks says. “I tell my students, before I started to meditate, if I was just sitting around waiting for a bus, my mind would have been wandering like 90% of the time,” he says. “Now, if I am sitting at a bus stop, my mind is wandering 70% of time,” he says. _Correction: An earlier version of this story partially misquoted the researcher. It has been updated._ ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ]. [00:18] Ikaria is a very unique island. The people are not what [00:21] you would find in other places, they have a different [00:24] lifestyle, a different way of looking at life. We might [00:28] seem like we're not getting things done, or we might [00:30] be moving slowly, but we just move at our own pace [00:32] and things do get done in the end. Being Ikaria is [00:36] an identity unto [01:38] itself. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ] People wanna [01:41] live long, it's natural. Life is a gift, and [01:46] people want to enjoy it. [01:49] [ MUSIC ] [01:52] Unfortunately, you know, Athens is not a carrier. [01:56] Athens is a big city, people are crowded, crowding [01:58] alone is a major stress. It's [02:02] difficult to live there, connected life. There is [02:06] a lot [02:20] of obesity, there is a lot of anxiety. We've started [02:25] already to be seeing the results [02:33] of stress. In Ikaria they're not crowded, [02:39] they have the water right next to [02:45] them. Just the environment where they live, it's better. [02:48] [ FOREIGN ] [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ FOREIGN ]. It's [03:02] the people of Ikaria that make the difference, the [03:05] people are really for Ikaria. In Ikaria, it's cultural, it's [03:09] an epicurean culture, they avoid stress, or cope well [03:11] with it. When they cannot avoid it, they [03:16] seek small pleasures. They live the day as it comes. [03:21] So, somehow naturally, they're doing things that we [03:23] should all be doing. [ FOREIGN ]. [03:32] I got [03:37] money from [03:59] my uncle Giannis. He said to me, come with me for [04:03] work, for one week and I will give you money, I said, [04:05] okay. I went first three days, [04:09] and then I said, I, I quit, I cannot do it anymore. I was [04:13] waking up at 6 o'clock and working until, [04:17] four, five and he was saying, come on, let's go, let's go [04:20] until night. [04:47] [ FOREIGN ]. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ]. In the [04:50] documentaries they show only old people, they don't [04:55] show nothing else, old people and the nature. They [04:58] don't show the young people, what are they doing in [05:00] their lives, you know? [ NOISE ]. [05:05] I don't think that I would live so many years as them [05:08] because, with the live that we are doing now it's, [05:14] it's bad because we drink alcohol so much. We [05:19] don't sleep good. [ NOISE ] [06:07] [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. [ FOREIGN ]. I'm looking [06:10] forward to the people of Ikaria being able to come [06:13] together, and work for the good of their island. And [06:16] I'm also looking forward to the next generation, to see [06:19] how they turn out and where they're going to be in 20 [06:22] years time. I think it's gonna be a very interesting [06:24] journey. We like the tradition of Ikaria, the history, the [06:29] music, the culture, everything. We like it, and we trying, [06:34] I think, my generation is trying to keep it, you know, [06:37] not lose it. What I learn a lot from the older people is [06:40] their sense of continuity, their strong sense of family, [06:44] their strong sense of, my children have grown. I've [06:48] seen my grandchildren, my life is complete, I'm [06:50] fulfilled. They're not looking for new things. They're [06:54] enjoying the things that they have in the moments they [06:56] have. They're not looking for the next one, and the [06:59] next one before they've actually enjoyed the present [07:01] one. 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